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Thirty-seven-year-old Jessica Lyn Wright was killed Monday when her 2009 Ford car was involved in a collision with a tractor trailer and a South Carolina Department of Transportation dump truck. The accident happened on the southbound side of Interstate 85, between the Brockman-McClimon Road and Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport exits, near Greer, South Carolina. The collision, which happened at about 9:50 AM, is still under investigation. Ms. Wright was pronounced dead upon her arrival at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center at 10:53 AM. She had been partially ejected from her vehicle, and was airlifted to the hospital from the scene. The tractor trailer driver and the dump truck driver were both uninjured. At the time of the accident, Sixty-six-year-old Charles Ray Smith, of Casar, North Carolina, was driving the tractor trailer, and Twenty-two-year-old James Michael Pridemore, of nearby Inman, South Carolina, was driving the dump truck.

This was the third wreck of the morning along that stretch of I-85, as traffic was backed up throughout the morning hours. One of the earlier wrecks also involved tractor trailers. In that accident, a tractor trailer driver did not slow down in time to avoid traffic ahead of it, ran into a Honda Civic automobile, and then sideswiped another 18-wheeler. The at-fault tractor trailer driver was charged with following too closely.

The cause of the accident which caused the fatality is unknown, and the investigation is still ongoing by the South Carolina Highway Patrol, according to Lance Corporal Bill Rhyne.

At approximately 3:40 AM on Sunday, April 18, a pick-up truck passenger was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene, along Interstate 77 in Lexington County, South Carolina. Evidence at the scene indicates that the truck driver was traveling at a high rate of speed. The truck left the road, and flipped several times before stopping. No other vehicles are known to have been involved in the accident. Lexington County Coroner Harry Harman will release the passenger’s name once the deceased’s family has been notified.

South Carolina Highway Patrol troopers are searching for a truck driver who hit another driver on I-77 near Rock Hill. The tractor trailer hit a 63-year-old woman’s car on Friday morning at about 6:30 AM, pushing her through the cable barriers and across the interstate, where she collided with another 18 wheeler.

The first truck driver did not stop after the accident, and instead kept driving. Troopers are searching for a tractor trailer with a black cab and a silver trailer. Witnesses were unable to recall particular logos or markings on the 18 wheeler. The 63 year old and the driver of the second truck were not seriously injured.

Senator Harry Reid’s wife and daugher were involved in a four-vehicle wreck yesterday, leaving 69-year-old Landra Reid with a broken neck, a broken back, and a broken nose. The couple’s 48-year-old daugher, Lana Reid Barringer, suffered a neck injury and facial lacerations, after a tractor trailer rear-ended their car. They were both transported by ambulance to a hospital in nearby Falls Church, Virginia.

The wreck happened at about 1 PM on I-95 in Fairfax County, Virginia, near Washington. Ms. Barringer was driving her Honda Odyssey van when a tractor trailer, carrying huge rolls of plastic, rear-ended them. The force from the 18 wheeler was so severe that the Honda crashed into a Jeep Grand Cherokee, which in turn collided with a fourth vehicle.

Both Mrs. Reid and Mrs. Barringer were wearing their seatbelts, and although Honda Odysseys are considered to be among the safest vehicles in their class, the tractor trailer still inflicted tremendous damage.

The 59-year-old trucker, Alan W. Snader, of Ohio, was charged with reckless driving after an investigation at the scene by state police. He was not injured.

Harry and Landra Reid were high school sweethearts, who married in 1959. They have five adult children. Mrs. Barringer has three children.

Unfortunately, this warning came too late for two people in Dunn, North Carolina. On January 12, 2010, Bert Baytops of Newark, New Jersey and a female companion were fatally injured on Interstate 95 when apparently the driver fell asleep at the wheel. The car ran off the road and hit a guard rail and shot back on to the roadway where it rolled to a stop. A tractor trailer driving in the same direction unknowingly came upon the scene and could not stop in time before smashing into the car still in the middle of the roadway. The force of the impact caused the passenger to be thrown from the car. The car blew up with the driver still behind the wheel of the car. Interstate 95 was closed for over five hours.

Imagine, one minute driving along the freeway without a care in the world, and the next minute looking in your rear view mirror and seeing nothing but the grill of a semi truck.

That’s exactly what happened to Carlos Perez of Geneva, New York, on August 21, 2009. Mr. Perez was driving his car with three other passengers, including two children, 12 and 5, on the New York State Thruway. Trucker Ronald J. Constable, Jr. of Earlton, New York was hauling kerosene on the same stretch of road. The trucker came upon Mr. Perez’ car which was cruising at 60 M.P.H. in the passing lane. He decided to “coax” Mr. Perez back into the right hand lane by maneuvering his tractor trailer within a few feet of the car. Mr. Perez responded to the tailgating maneuver by reducing the speed of his car. The truck driver then decided to coax Mr. Perez even further by ramming his Kerosene filled truck into the back of the Perez’ car several times. Mr. Perez pulled over to the side of the Thruway and Mr. Constable followed. Mr. Constable got out of his truck and approached Mr. Perez who was still seated in his car. He then proceeded to beat and choke Mr. Perez in front of the two children.

At this point a passing trooper saw the incident and stopped. The trucker was charged with felony reckless endangerment, endangering the welfare of a child, and harassment.

Proceed with caution here, but this video captures the truly awful consequences that arise when drivers do not look out for the other guy and operate their vehicles safely.

In the aftermath of major collisions, we help people begin to pick up the pieces and put their lives back together. I hope and pray that you are never in this situation, but if you are, be sure to get the help you need.

If anyone needs a reminder about just how dangerous truck accidents can be to the public, read this. On July 15, 2009 in Hazel Park, Michigan, a tractor-trailer exploded under an overpass causing the overpass itself to literally melt and disintegrate. The driver of a car was on a winding section of Interstate 75 when it lost control and spun into a passing semi. The semi was hauling over 13,000 gallons of fuel. It lost control and flipped, causing a second tractor-trailer carrying produce to crash as well.

The fuel tanker collided with an overpass rail, and fuel began to spew out over the highway. The fuel caught fire, sending the truck into explosive flames which began burning the overpass. The heat was so intense that the overpass began to melt and fell on top of the already burning big-rig. The collapse caused another, even bigger explosion according to passersby. Fortunately all three drivers escaped with only minor injuries and no deaths were reported.

On June 24, 2009 the committee that controls the highway and trucking issues in the U.S. House of Representatives (the House Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Highways and Transit) will be reviewing the language contained in the Surface Transportation Act of 2009.

This is a prelude to having the bill passed by Congress later this year. At this point, there is no language included in the bill that would allow increases to truck size and weight. Unfortunately, it appears that Representative Michael Michaud is trying to amend the act to add language that was also included in H.R. 1799 which allowed drastic increased truck weight.

Larger trucks are the last thing we need. They don’t stop easily and tip over more frequently. Their already deficient break systems will fail if more weight is added. The heavier trucks will inflict more damage to roadways and bridges. Heavier trucks will require more fuel consumption and create higher pollution levels.

Call your member of Congress today and urge him or her to oppose any increase in the weight of tractor trailers on our highways. They are dangerous enough as it is – as the daily tragedies on the roads attest.